Lawmaker: Utah state flag is wrong

A Utah lawmaker says the time has come to fix an 88-year-old mistake in the state flag perpetuated since the first hand-embroidered version was made.

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State Rep. Julie Fisher says the design does to not adhere to the law regarding the original design of the flag, The Salt Lake Tribune reported Saturday.

"Back in 1922, a woman (Dolly McMonegal) made a finely embroidered copy of the flag for the state," at a time when most flags were handmade, Fisher says.

But McMonegal either made the shield on it too small or the word "Utah" within it too big, leaving no room in the shield for "1847" (the year Mormon pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley) as the law mandated, she says.

"The '1847' is supposed to be inside the shield. If you look at the state seal -- which the flag is based on -- it is inside the shield there," she says.

Fisher has introduced a resolution asking flag makers to correct the design.

"My resolution would allow people to use the flags they have today as long as they want," she says. "Then when they replace them with a new flag, it would follow the actual statute."